An Angel's Curse
by mylittleotherthoughts
Summary: When Lucy is attacked and injured during a fight against a dark guild, she ends up being a part of a history she didn't know existed, and wielding a power she has no clue how to control. But with a looming threat, she will have no choice but to sacrifice everything in order to succeed.
1. Chapter 1

The train station was quiet, almost silent. There was nothing to be heard, other than the faint sound of singing crickets and the odd whoosh of a train in the distance. All of the day's commuters had gone home, resting in their beds. What staff remained stared at books or leaflets, sipping strong, bitter cups of coffee, trying to grasp onto what little alertness they could to carry on counting down the minutes until they could go home. Occasionally they would hear the sound of distant echoes of footsteps, and look around futilely to see if there was anyone around to assist. But there was no one there. No one except a sad looking girl sitting on a bench by the rails, staring blankly at the next platform over and absent mindedly fiddling with her suitcase, her brown eyes shining with unshed tears.

Lucy had been dreading this day. She had been planning it for a week, and it had come faster than she ever had intended. Everything had worked out perfectly, to a T, which was strange, given that Team Natsu was almost impossible to organise without something being broken in the process. It was almost as if the universe wanted this to happen. Natsu and Happy had gone home without a fuss when she told them she wanted a night alone, appeased by a sordidly large meal she had paid for. Erza and Gray has understood when she had asked for a break from missions for a while, not asking questions when she had claimed it was due to the anniversary of her mother's death. They merely looked at her with caring, warm eyes, and promised to keep Natsu quiet for a while. That was what broke her heart the most, not only using her mother to lie, but that they had believed her without suspicion. They had no reason to suspect her of lying, they understood the pain, they trusted her, and she broke that trust.

Looking down at her shoes, Lucy took a shaky sigh, and ran a hand through her hair. 'It doesn't matter', she told herself. 'Most likely, they will never see me again. In time they'll forget.' Yeah. Sure. Because Fairy Tail forgot their family so easily.

"Miss…?" A voice jolted her out of her thoughts, and she looked up at a very exhausted member of staff. He smiled wearily. "I'm sorry. Your train is here." She looked up, wondering how her thoughts had managed to pull her so deep that she had missed the sound of a train pull up right in front of her. Standing up and slinging her bag over her shoulder and picking up her suitcase, she looked back at the man, and quietly said, "Thank you", before turning and climbing onto the train.

It was almost completely empty, as expected, but Lucy chose to sit in a private compartment, anyway. She could feel the tears threaten to spill over, and she couldn't risk creating a scene. Not now. She carefully placed her suitcase on the overhead shelf, a task she realised was a lot more difficult without Natsu trying to help her. But she managed, and quickly sat as the ticket inspector came her way. Without a word, she held out her ticket.

"So where are you headed, miss? It's an odd time to travel, don't you think?" He asked, carefully stamping the ticket. She smiled courteously, and merely said;

"A long way away. I had to be there as soon as possible. Now seemed like the best time to avoid the rush." 'Liar, you know what you want to avoid.' She thought. Her smile became strained. The inspector was oblivious, though, as he handed back the ticket with a lazy grin.

"Right you are, miss. I hope nothing is wrong, at least! Have a pleasant journey." He said, continuing to move down the train. Lucy sighed and leant back into her seat. Her hands began to shake, knowing what was coming next. She had been dreading this more than getting on the train, but it had to be done. She reached for her bag, and pulled out the letter. As the train pulled out of the station, she read it over and over, as she had when she first received it, trying to find some loop hole, something, anything that meant she didn't have to do this. But the message was clear. So she carefully folded the letter back up, placed it back in her bag, and looked at the back of her right hand. The symbol of her new found family stood stark against her even paler skin.

"Lucy had never known why the act of removing one's own guild mark was so abhorrent with the others. She never truly understood when Natsu told her Yukino was broken by Sabertooth's punishment. She sympathised, of course, but she couldn't understand. But faced with the prospect now, she understood just how terrifying it was. She was about to rip away her identity, her family, her home.

Taking a deep breath, she forced her hands to still, as she placed her left hand over her mark. 'Now or never', she thought, as she focussed her magic into her left palm. She knew the spell. The question was whether she knew it well enough.

Suddenly, she felt unbelievable pain. Not a sharp pain, or even a physical one, but a long, slow, burning pain, focussed on her hand and in her heart. Trying to push through it with a quiet whimper, the tears she had been holding finally spilled over, when unbelievable feelings of loneliness, hopelessness and hurt crawled through every corner of her mind, wiping it blank to any positive feeling she had ever experienced, or so it felt. A numbness spread from her right hand through her whole body. When the spell was complete, she fell back carelessly into the seat, not even realising she had been tensed into a ball the entire time. It had only been a few seconds, but it felt like hours. Hours of despair.

Now she understood, she knew why only the guild master could safely remove a guild mark. They were like trained surgeons. They know just how to remove the mark safely, without causing unnecessary damage. What she had done was the equivalent of voluntarily ripping her heart out with nothing but a blunt butter knife. And damn, did it hurt.

She quietly sobbed, not holding back her tears this time, watching the lights of Magnolia fade into the distance. 'It's so beautiful', she thought, as at last the town disappeared behind a hill.

"I'm so sorry", she whispered, cradling her hand to her broken heart.

 **Hi all! I just want to give you a heads up. While this will be a multiple chapter fanfic, I will probably not be uploading the next chapter for another few months, so you might want to follow before you forget if you want to read more. This was a late night bout of procrastination, and I have a dissertation due in a month, so I really can't afford to write more right now. But rest assured, I have had this story in my head since September, and I've been going crazy wanting to write it down, so once uni is done, there'll be nothing to stop me!**


	2. Chapter 2

_2 weeks earlier_

The guild hall was on fire, courtesy of Natsu, and not so slowly burning to the ground. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to build a guild hall filled with such dangerous mages out of wood deserved to see their creation burned down, Lucy decided. It was unfathomably stupid. Maybe it was a temporary build, or maybe they thought they were untouchable. Obviously they didn't account for a destructive dragon slayer to come and burn it down, while beating everyone up at the same time.

The ground around the hall was littered with groaning or unconscious bodies of dark mages, all suffering from burns, frostbite, or cuts and bruises made by swords and whips. A few even had broken bones. It was a difficult fight, and as much as the group hated being more forceful than necessary, this time it was needed to win. This had been the fifth dark guild that the group had been paid to eradicate this month alone. No one could really say why. The number of known dark guilds had grown exponentially within the past half a year, gaining numbers, strength and in some cases even banding together to form "mega-guilds". They were getting braver, more open with the jobs that they would normally take in the dark. Some became mere bandits, wreaking havoc, stealing and pillaging wherever they went. They were getting stronger and they cared less about the consequences, and it was scaring the hell out of the Council.

Among the unconscious bodies, Lucy was bent over, hand on knees, panting hard. She had just finished off one of her last opponents, and she was exhausted.

'Weird', she thought, 'I've fought for longer without feeling this tired. I guess I really should train my stamina some more'. She took another deep breath, and looked up at her opponent. He was lying on his side, groaning and pressing a hand against a slash mark on his cheek. With what little strength he had left, he raised his head and looked her dead in the eye.

"Fuck you, girl," he growled in a deep, throaty voice, clearly trying to intimidate her still. She rolled her eyes. Why did they always think they sounded so tough? He was near unconscious in front of her, having just been beat in a fight, completely at her mercy, and he thought a few ugly words would have her quaking? They always assumed her to be so fragile. Secretly, she loved watching how quickly they realised their mistake. It was strangely entertaining.

"Lucy!" She spun around to find the source of the noise, only to come face to face with a dirt smeared face with a mop of pink hair. She smiled. He truly was hopeless. How did he get so filthy this time? "Are you OK? That was a tough fight, eh? You look a little pale." His brow was furrowed slightly, looking her over in concern.

"Just a little tired, don't worry. Summoning both Loke and Virgo wore me out." She waved her hand in dismissal. Even that little movement wore her out more. What was going on? Odd.

His brows furrowed even more, "It's never been an issue before. Are you sure you're ok?"

"Of course! It was just a long fight, is all. We've been fighting all day! I haven't even eaten yet!" His face broke into a slightly, but not completely, easy grin.

"Ah that's it! Maybe you should eat less and train more. If you lose some weight, you might be able to fight longer," he teased.

She pushed him lightly, and started to scowl. "Hey! What're you trying to say, you-". She went to lightly smack him on the head, but he backed away, laughing, all worry gone from his face.

"Kidding! If you have enough energy to hit me, then you're fine." She stopped, giggled and lowered her hand, trying not to let on just how much the small movements were draining her energy. "Anyway, I just came to check on you. Me, Gray and Erza are still looking in the guild hall for the master. He's in there somewhere and we'll make sure to find out everything he knows." His face set with determination. "You wanna come help, or do you want to rest for a minute? We've got it covered right now, you don't have to come in with us if you're low on magic. It still could end in a fight."

"My magic is too low for a fight right now. I'll stay out here and find out if any of the guild members know anything. Well, the one's you left conscious anyway." She grinned and poked his chest. He grinned back and started to run toward the smouldering guild hall. In the distance, she could see a flash of red hair and the glint of ice. She smiled warmly. 'Always looking out for me', she thought.

"How sickenin'." The man behind her snarled. She slowly turned to look at him. It was a pitiful sight. He was maybe in his late thirties, and had a good physique, she judged, from the way he fought. Though you would never tell from looking at him. What you could see of his face was creased and grey, the rest was hidden under a dark, shaggy beard, which was caked in dirt and blood and spit.

"I wouldn't think people like you understood true camaraderie." She said dismissively as she slowly walked towards him. She pulled her whip taut, a subtle warning that she was ready if he tried anything. His eyes fell to it, and he smirked.

"Don't need it love. All I need is strong men and women to help blow shit up. After that, I couldn't give two fucks what happens to 'em."

"How lovely," she murmured. "What a lonely life you must lead. Why bother sticking around at all, if you don't care so much?" She took a step closer.

"Money, babe. Money and power and glory. Everythin' every human on Earthland wants, but most are too stuck up to admit. I take what I want when I want it, and everybody 'ere cheers me on. Can you say you have the same luxury" He sneered.

"I already have everything I want." She said proudly, and he scoffed, clearly not believing her. "So that's why the dark guilds have been grouping together? Is someone offering them what they want?" He laughed. It was a throaty laugh, and dangerous. For some reason, it set her on edge.

"It's not nearly that simple, love. You ain't gonna trick me into tellin' you that easily." He pondered her stern face for a moment longer. "But I'll give you a freebie, out of the generosity of my heart." She looked at him warily, stepping back slightly and shakily, as his face darkened. It made him look sinister, and terrifying, like a man possessed. The world around them seemed to silence as he looked her square in the eye. She felt like she couldn't breathe. All because of a facial expression.

"You ain't ready for what's comin', girlie. None of you are. You think us raiding villages is bad? Wait until they're burned to the ground, and every one of those villagers cryin' over their shitty possessions is dead. What's comin' is unstoppable, blondie. You can either stand in its way and be cut down, or bask in it with us." He pondered her shaking form. "I wonder what I'll do with you when the time comes. I'm lookin' forward to slicing that pretty little throat of yours."

She stared at him, dumbfounded. She tried to find words to retort. Something. Anything. 'Come on, Lucy!' But there was nothing. She could only stare and shake like a child. Why did those words sound meaningful to her, like she'd heard them before? Why was her heart aching and her pulse racing. These were just empty threats, from a man who knows he's lost, right? There's no ounce of truth to them. They're dark guilds, they don't coordinate with each other. They barely coordinate themselves.

"Y-you're –". There was a loud bang from behind her, and she spun around to see a fight breaking out at the guild hall. Fire was flying and swords were flashing. It was all so overwhelming that she didn't see the man bolt up and pounce on her, knocking her to the ground. She didn't even have time to shriek, just grunt as her body hit the ground hard. She felt a finger snap, and she gave a short cry. The man flipped her over, and clawed at her face, her body and the ground around her, as if trying to find a weapon. She desperately fought to keep his hands at bay, and as she looked at his face in horror, she saw his cool, indifferent demeanour was gone. He was raving, ranting, frothing at the mouth. It was as if he had lost his mind.

"You can't stop the darkness, girl! The darkness is comin'! The eternal darkness! And we are his chosen! He is our saviour! He will give us a world of despair! He will give us the world that so many have failed to create before him! You'll see, girl! You can't run from it! He will find you! He will destroy you! He is coming! He is coming!" He screamed and laughed in her face. He laughed manically as he tore at her clothes and her face. He pulled at her hair and smashed her skull into the ground. She couldn't scream, couldn't yell. All she could do was gasp as her heart tightened with every word he said.

Why did she feel as she understood what he was saying? It was nothing but mad gibberish. But the words sat in her brain as if they had a space saved there. As if they belonged there.

She pushed against his face, slammed her fist into his throat. He choked, but he didn't stop. She couldn't put up much of a fight. The air in her lungs was getting scarcer. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. The pain was strong and sharp, but also ached so far deep down she felt she was made of it.

Then the man slowed, and his eyed widened. In the reflection of them she saw herself. At least, what she thought was herself. But her eyes were pure gold, from the whites to the pupil, and so bright she almost blinded herself. But she didn't get to look at them for long. At that moment, her heart felt like it exploded, and she shut her eyes to scream. The pain was so intense, and she felt it from the top of her head to her toes. She could do nothing but let out the most blood-curdling scream she had ever heard herself give. And with it was released a burst of power as gold as her eyes. 'Where did that come from?! I was all out a moment ago!' The burst blew the man away from her body. She didn't know, nor did she care how far. All she knew was the searing pain flowing through her veins. She must be on fire. She didn't know any magic could burn this badly.

And then it stopped, as quickly as it began, and the energy from the burst flew right back in. Her eyes changed back, and there was no sound left but the sound of her ragged breathing and the shouts of her friends coming closer.

It was the last sound she heard before she passed out.

 **Hey guys! I hope you like this next chapter. I've never been very good at writing speech, and I'm not sure if I got it to flow very well. If you have any opinions or suggestions grammar and writing-wise, I'm open to them. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

In the darkness, Lucy was surrounded by a deep, suffocating silence. There was nothing and no one. No laughter, no anger, no day and no night. All that surrounded her was a darkness that pressed in on her, trapping her, squashing out the outside world. But it did not stop the pain. It flowed through her veins like molten metal, and pooled in her heart. Her heart, it felt like it would explode. It was as though she was feeling every emotion she had ever felt at the same time. Every nervous flutter when she saw someone she cared about, every beat of anger, the anxious hammering when she'd had her first kiss, and the unbearable pain she'd felt when her mother had died. Her chest felt full to burst and yet hollow at the same time. She tried to open her mouth the scream, but the darkness squashed that too.

She didn't know how long she had been in that prison, days or months, it all blurred into one. There was no time here, just endless scorching pain. But eventually, the darkness began to lighten, it pulled back, and allowed her to breathe. She could only hear the blurry mumbles of voices, but she knew who they belonged to, and the moment she heard them, the weight in her heart began to lift, and the fire began to quench. She was almost out, she was being lifted towards consciousness, but before she did, she heard a voice. Whether it was her own or another's, she couldn't tell. It sounded like a great number of voices in one.

"Do not tell them what happened Lucy, if you want them to be safe."

She was surprised that she understood. Normally she would never consider lying to her friends, but this time she knew it was her burden to bear. Whatever had happened was dangerous, and she needed find out what it was herself.

The world around her began to disappear, and she began to feel her body again. It felt heavy, and groggy, but she managed to open her eyes just wide enough to see her team stood around her bed, looking at her in concern.

"Lucy?" Natsu asked, quickly pulling up a chair and leaning towards her. He grabbed her hand and looked at her closely. "Lucy, you awake?" He sounded so worried, she must have been out for a really long time.

She opened her mouth, and as best as she could manage with her dry throat, rasped out "Hey, Natsu." His face instantly brightened, as did the faces over everybody in the room, as they started to smile and grin with relief.

"She's awake, she's ok! Gray! Go get Wendy!" Natsu practically shouted. Gray ran from the room and in no time at all, pretty much half of the guild ran back in, shouting and cheering and asking a million different questions at the same time. Lucy cringed away slightly, only having just adjusted to being awake, something Erza didn't fail to notice.

"Hey!" She yelled, and silence fell in the tiny room. "If you're not in the team, a healer, or the master, get out. Right. Now." She eyed each and every single one of them, and they all blanched and ran out faster than they ran in. Lucy giggled and nodded gratefully at Erza.

"Lucy-san, how are you feeling?" Wendy popped up out of nowhere, smiling brightly.

"Thirsty." She whispered. Natsu immediately stood up to go pour her some water. "How long was I out?"

"A few days." Natsu told her as he handed her the water and sat back down. She gulped it down quickly and immediately felt better. Natsu's smile dropped. "We were worried for a while you wouldn't. Your heart stopped." He paused or a moment, and swallowed, grabbing her hand again. "It started up again pretty quickly, but for a moment there we thought you hadn't made it." Lucy gulped, but Wendy was quick to reassure her.

"It was probably just the body rebooting itself, Lucy-san. Your body took a lot of internal damage from whatever happened. I tried to heal it as best as I could, but your body wouldn't let me a lot of the time. It was set on healing itself. Whatever magic was hurting you was saving you at the same time. I've never seen anything like it." She looked around the room incredulously. "I couldn't even identify it, no one could, not even the master."

At that moment the master stepped forward, and peered at her curiously. "Speaking of which, Lucy, could you please tell us what happened out there? Natsu and the others were too far away at the time to know. All they saw was a golden explosion."

"I-I-" She stammered. 'Lie', the voice told her again, and she took a deep breath. "I honestly don't remember master. One moment I was questioning a dark mage, the next he had me on the ground and was attacking me. He might have used some type of magic I wasn't aware of, or maybe Loke hastily did something to protect me. But I must have been unconscious when the magic was cast, or it caused me to forget. I don't recall anything." The faces of everyone looked at her in confusion, but she could tell that they believed her, and it broke her heart. She had lied to her nakama, and they trusted her without a second thought.

The master looked at her thoughtfully. "Well, that is a shame. But no matter, it's completely understandable. You should get some rest, Lucy, you've been through a lot." And with that he left the room, deep in thought. Erza and Gray both said their goodbyes as well, and left to go back downstairs.

"You should be able to leave tomorrow, Lucy-san. You just need to rest a little more" Wendy smiled as she left a potion for sleep on the bedside table and left Lucy and Natsu alone. They both talked for at least an hour, Natsu recounting the battle in detail and describing how they managed to catch the master of the dark guild. He told her about what the members of the guild had been up to and how Happy had been so distraught and how mad he would be to find out he had been fishing when she woke up. They started to plan their next mission and laughed about rent. And when Lucy desperately tried to stop her eyes from drooping closed, Natsu laughed, ruffled her hair, and started to leave. When he got to the door he looked back to say goodnight, and she was asleep before he'd even left the room.

 **Hi everyone! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. This past month I've finished Uni, moved back home, graduated (hallelujah!) and have been looking for jobs. The story kind of got forgotten about. I also wanted to flesh out some characters before I continued writing. This is just a short chapter, but I should post another or extend this one either later tonight or tomorrow. Definitely within the week, so keep your eye out! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**So, um, that was a long week. Sorry about that. I got a new job, with crazy hours, both night and day shifts. I wont make any promises for new chapters for the time being, but I'll try to update as quickly as I can. I'm just having a bit of trouble thinking of ways to write the next chapter without it being cheesy or cliche, so if you have any tips on my writing style, I'd appreciate it. I'm sure a lot of you know how difficult it is to read your own writing objectively. :)**

* * *

"Natsu! I'm fine! Wendy said everything is back to normal, I don't need you babysitting me tonight!" Lucy said forcefully. Both she and Natsu were walking down Strawberry Street, trying their best to find indoors before the angry looking rain cloud decided to downpour onto both of them.

"But Lucy," Natsu whined, "We don't even know what happened to you! What if there are side effects we don't know about? What if it hurts you again? I just want to make sure you're OK." Her heart warmed, for just a second, but she pushed the feeling away roughly. She needed to be alone, to process what had happened, and to call on Crux to help her. She couldn't allow Natsu to get involved, not just yet. Not when she had no idea just how dangerous she might be.

She whirled around, and put her hand up, cutting him short and bringing him to an abrupt stop. "Natsu." She said in a very short tone. "These past few days have been stressful, and tiring. I want some time to relax, and to be by myself." He began to argue. "No! You know as well as I do that I will not be able to relax with you inviting yourself into my home. I want a bath, I want to read, and I want to think. Alone." She smiled at him, and lowered her hand. "Go tell Happy that I'm OK, and stop worrying so much. Nothing will happen. I'll see you tomorrow." He sighed, and she could tell that he had given up. They waved goodbye to each other as they ran in opposite directions, and Lucy managed to get into her house just as the rain began. A crack of thunder made her flinch, but she shook it off with a giggle. She made a pot of tea, and as it was brewing she threw herself on her bed.

"What a week." She sighed.

She listened to the rain spatter against the window, closing her eyes and inhaling the delightful scent that was rain on a warm day. She sat up and picked up her mug of tea, cradling it in her hands. She was home now, she was safe and utterly comfortable.

But she couldn't help her thoughts turning to the events of the past few days. About the man and his fanatical ravings, the strange light that exploded from her body, or the voice that spoke to her before she woke up. None of them made any sense to her, and yet in her heart she knew their meaning, even if she couldn't decipher it. The tea in her hands grew cold as she stared into nothing, playing the scenes over and over again in her head. She slowly began to remember smaller and smaller details. The words Natsu and Gray shouted as she lost consciousness, the colour of the mad man's eyes, the trail of blood that ran from his nose as he stared at what must have been the purest form of the power that killed him. But to her frustration, there was no meaning behind it all.

A clap of thunder jolted her from her thoughts, and she sighed, pushed her hair away from her face, and got up to run a bath, determined to have at least 10 minutes of calm, before calling Crux to help her and getting answers to questions she might not want to know.

* * *

"I am sorry, Miss Lucy, but this is beyond my authority… I am not the one who can tell you what you need to know…" Crux looked at her with a mixture of guilt and austerity. She could tell he longed to say the words, but his mouth held firmly shut, swallowing them back down.

"But… you didn't even sleep yet Crux! Surely there's something you can tell me. There must be some small piece of information you can find! Anything!" The lines in his forehead deepened as he frowned. "Please!" She nearly screamed in frustration. She wanted to shake him. She wanted to cry.

"Princess… do not misunderstand me. I am well aware of your situation, and I know the answers you seek. But I… there is only one who can tell you. I can tell you where - "

There was a sharp knock at the door.

"What curious timing…" Crux murmured, before disappearing in a blinding flash.

"Crux! Wait- dammit!" She pulled herself to her feet and grumbled as she headed towards the door.

She pulled it wide open, nearly slamming it against the wall in her frustration, and found herself face to face with a man she had never seen in her life. Her heart thundered. She thought it had been a guild member coming to check on her, and she internally kicked herself for not letting Natsu stay. She was definitely not strong enough to put up a fight, and this man looked like an experienced fighter.

He was a similar build to Gildarts, and looked like he rivalled his strength, if not exceeding it. Although looking close to sixty, his muscles were clearly visible under his shirt despite its loose fit. His face, from what could be seen from under what once was a jet black beard, although now peppered heavily with grey, was scarred in more than one place. His nose was crooked, suggesting it had been broken more than once, and he was missing a finger on his left hand. He looked positively terrifying, and Lucy quickly took a step back.

"Who are you?" She thanked the stars that she didn't stammer, and sounded more confident than scared. Her trembling hands rendered it null and void though. She swore internally.

The old man looked down at her, and his cold, grey eyes softened at the sight of her.

"Lucy Heartfilia." His deep, gravelly voice echoed around the room. His hand stuck out, holding an aged letter. "I haven't seen you since you were a child."

She made no move to reach for the letter. "Who. Are. You?"

He smiled. "My name is Jonas. Your mother left me this letter to deliver to you when the time was right. I have the answers you seek."


	5. Update

Hi guys,

This is just a quick update. I'm still writing as much as I can between work and study. The new chapter is a bitch to write and is taking some time, but as it's going to explain pretty much everything that has happened up until this point and the main plot of the story, I want to make sure it's the best chapter I can give you.

Quick spon: I have a tumblr now, which I will be putting future chapters on, so if you like that format you can head on over to mylittleotherthoughts. tumblr .com

I want to start doing some shorter drabbles and prompts alongside this fic, to get some more practice and push my boundaries a little. I may have dove in a bit too deep starting with a GIANT multi-chapter. So if any of you are interested in requesting anything, or even just following, I'd appreciate and be forever thankful for the support.

Until next time

Ellie x


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